Cigarette container



Dec. 8, 1936. M. PLANT CIGARETTE CONTAINER Filed May 19, 1935 A TTOR/VEY Patented Dec. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

This invention relates to containers for cigarettes and more particularly boxes made of metal and generally designed to hold about fifty cigarettes. These boxes are made in immense quan- 5 tities every year and involve a large expenditure in labor and material. Furthermore much eflort is devoted to making them attractive in appearance, and in themselves they constitute a valuable advertising medium for the brands of cigarettes contained in them. At the present time they are discarded and are of no further use when emptied of their contents.

An object of the present invention is to extend the utility of these boxes and to further enhance 15 their advertising value by the provision of means to adapt them for ash trays and for supporting lighted cigarettes when the boxes are wholly or partially emptied of cigarettes. The usefulness of the boxes is thus prolonged and an incentive 20 is created to retain them with a consequent continued advertising appeal.

This and other objects are secured by the provision of a cigarette rest within each box of cigarettes of such a conformation and design as not to interfere with the packaging of the cigarettes or to cause any damage to the packed cigarettes. Preferably also the rest is perforated along the line of contact with a cigarette so as not to transmit heat from a lighted cigarette placed thereon to other portions of the cigarette as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating several embodiments,

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a cigarette box with 35 one form of a cigarette rest applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank from which the rest shown in Fig. 1 is bent;

Fig. 3'is'an end view of the blank of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the blank of Fig. 2;

40 Fig. 5 is another perspective of a box illustrating the application of two other forms of the rest;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the blank for one of the rests shown in Fig. 5; and

Fig. '7 is a plan view of the blank for the other 45 form of rest shown in Fig. 5.

As ordinarily made a box ID for holding cigarettes is shallow, and the cigarettes are divided into two portions, separated by a folded paper or other material to form a partition. In the 50 embodiment shown in Fig. 1, a partition H is substituted which can be of tin-plate (the same material as the box) or of other suitable material secured to the box. The partition is used as a support for a cigarette rest l2 when the box 55 is emptied of cigarettes, thus converting the box into an ash tray with cigarette supports l3 and [4 for lighted cigarettes. .The rest I2 is separable from the partition, and is made from a blank as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 comprising the supporting portions l3 and [4 connected by a 5 bridging portion IS. The rest can be made of thin sheet metal so as to be readily folded on the dotted line I6, and again bent on the lines ll, l8 into the shape shown in perspective in Fig. 1 to form the saddle section l9. Preferably the 10 rest is given an arcuate cross section as illustrated in the end View, Fig. 3, so as to hold a cigarette in place. The portions l3 and I4 have perforations 20, 2| forming cross bars 22 so proportioned and spaced that heat from a lighted end of a cigarette is not transmitted to other portions of the cigarette to any appreciable extent.

As supplied with a box filled with cigarettes, the rest 12 is preferably in the bent form and placed in an inverted position with the saddle portion I9 in contact with the partition I I and the arcuate ends 13 and I4 overlying cigarettes in the box. As the curvature of the ends corresponds more or less with that of the underlying cigarettes there is no appreciable distortion of the ciga- 5 rettes, and the saddle portion prevents endwise slippage. The rest, however, can be placed in the box in the blank form and readily bent into shape by the user.

Another embodiment is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The blank 30 shown in Fig. 6 has an attached portion 3i which when folded on the line 32 and bent on the line 33 forms a saddle portion 34 to clip on the side of a box. With this form no provision need be made for a middle partition, 35 though if there be such a partition it can be clipped on the partition instead of a box end. It is preferably supplied in the finally bent form, the saddle 35 being inverted and slipped into a filled box in contact with a box end and the portion 30 overlying the cigarettes. It can also, however, be placed in the box in the blank form.

Another form, shown in blank in Fig. 7 and in perspective in Fig. 5, is intended to be permanently attached to the box. For this purpose the blank 40 has a tongue 4| that can be bent on the lines 42, 43 to form sections 44, 45. The section 45 is soldered or otherwise fastened to the lid or to the bottom of the box so as to bring the rest into contact with the box. For use the rest can be elevated from the lid or bottom by lifting the rest and then bending it back on the line 42 so that the portion 44 extends vertically from the lid.

As heretofore explained it is intended that the embodiment l2 and 30 be supplied loose in a box and placed on top the cigarettes when a box is filled in an inverted position with the saddle tucked next to a partition or the end of a box. When the box is emptied or partially emptied of cigarettes (as for example the removal of the cigarettes on one side of a. partition) the rest is put in place by clipping the saddle on the partition or the box end. This then converts the box or a portion of it into an ash tray with a support for a lighted cigarette within the tray. In the embodiment Ell which is permanently attached, the rest need not necessarily be bent up from the plane of the lid but it is found preferable to do so for use.

The perforations provided in the rest prevent direct transmission of heat along a lighted cigarette lying in the rest. The perforations are preferably of a width that ensures non-contact longitudinally between the rest and the cigarette, and the separating cross bars are made sufficient in number to insure proper support for the cigarette.

While primarily intended for use with the customary boxes made from tin plate, the rest herein disclosed can be supplied and used with boxes madeof other materials, such as cardboard which has a fireproofed surface so that a box so made can be safely used as an ash receiver.

I claim:

1. Cigarette container comprising in combination a box consisting of a receptacle of a conformation for holding cigarettes for transportation and a lid therefor and a cigarette rest consisting of a substantially straight elongated metal strip of arcuate cross-section for contacting cigarettes and permitting closure of the lid when the box contains cigarettes without injury to the lat ter, said strip including means formed integral therewith and adapted to support the strip by the box in spaced relation from the walls of the box and within the confines of the box whereby a lighted cigarette placed on said rest can be maintained out of contact with the box in a man ner to deposit any ashes falling therefrom in the box.

2. Cigarette container comprising in combination a box consisting of a receptacle of a conformation for holding cigarettes for transportation and a lid therefor and a cigarette rest consisting of a substantially straight elongated metal strip of arcuate cross-section for contacting cigarettes and permitting closure of the lid when the box contains cigarettes without injury to the latter, said strip including means formed integral therewith and adapted to support the strip by the box in spaced relation from the walls of the box and Within the confines of the box whereby a lighted cigarette placed on said rest can be maintained out of contact with the box in a manner to deposit any ashes falling therefrom in the box, the cigarette-supporting portion of the rest being perforated along a line of contact with a cigarette to prevent undue transmission of heat by the metal strip along the length of a lighted cigarette.

3. Cigarette rest for a cigarette box consisting of a receptacle of a conformation for holding cigarettes for transportation and a lid therefor, said rest consisting of a substantially straight elongated metal strip of arcuate cross-section for contacting cigarettes and permitting closure of the lid when the box contains cigarettes without injury to the latter, said strip including means formed integral therewith and adapted to support the strip by the box in spaced relation from the walls of the box and within the confines of the box whereby a lighted cigarette placed on the rest can be maintained out of contact with the box in a manner to deposit any ashes falling therefrom into the box.

4. Cigarette rest for a cigarette box consisting of a receptacle of a conformation for holding cigarettes for transportation and a lid therefor, said rest consistingof a substantially straight elongated metal strip of arcuate cross-section for contacting cigarettes andpermitting closure of the lid when the box contains cigarettes without injury to the latter, said strip including a saddle portion integral therewith and adapted to support the strip by the box in spaced relation from the walls of the box and within the confines of the box whereby a lighted cigarette placed on the rest can be maintained out of contact with the box in a manner to deposit any ashes falling therefrom into the box.

5. Cigarette rest for a cigarette box consisting of a receptacle of a conformation for holding cigarettes for transportation and a lid therefor, said rest consisting of a substantially straight elongated metal strip of arcuate cross-section for contacting cigarettes and permitting closure of the lid when the box contains cigarettes without injury-to the latter, said strip including a saddle portion integral therewith and adapted to support the strip by the box in spaced relation from the walls of the box and within the confines of the box whereby a lighted cigarette placed on the rest can be maintained out of contact with the box in a manner to deposit any ashes falling therefrom into the box, the cigarette-supporting portion of the rest being perforated along a line of contact with a cigarette to prevent undue transmission of heat by the metal strip alon the length of a lighted cigarette. I

IRVING M. PLANT. 

